Price vs. Cost and the True Value of Organic

Whenever I’m at a social gathering, and go on a friendly rant about the harms posed by chemical/conventional agriculture, and the overwhelming virtues of organic food and farming, someone will invariably bring up the “P” word. That’s “p” as in price.

“Hey, organic is great,” they’ll agree. “But it just costs so much.”

They’re right of course. Organic food does cost more — at the check-out. But that’s where the savings ends. When we do a little “full-cost accounting,” and start adding up all those external costs not paid at the register, organic comes out looking like one heck of a bargain.

Take antibiotic resistance, for example. We’re told that routine use of antibiotics in conventional livestock agriculture increases growth efficiency, and helps keep consumer prices low. But what’s left out of that argument is the unintended consequence of antibiotic resistance, which creates a tremendous economic burden on our entire healthcare system.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. alone, antibiotic resistant infections are responsible for $20 billion in excess healthcare costs, $35 billion in societal costs and $8 million in additional hospital days.

Then there are the painfully high costs of birth defects, obesity, type II diabetes and cancer, related to the use of certain pesticides.

Pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers also pollute our waterways, poison and contaminate fish, and kill our precious pollinators on which we depend for a rich and nourishing diet.

Speaking of nourishing diets, The Organic Center’s careful evaluation of organic fruits and vegetables compared to their conventional cousins showed that health-protecting anti-oxidants were significantly higher in the organic foods.

We can also expect organic meat and dairy to contain higher levels of beneficial fatty acids thanks to the cows’ organic pasture-rich diets.
In tough economic times, my friends’ reactions are understandable. It IS hard to look beyond the price tag. But lower prices often don’t equate with higher quality or better value in the long run.

Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream, and recent Heinz Award winner for her work in environmental protection, says the lower prices of conventional groceries don’t reflect their true cost to our family’s health, our children’s future, and our larger society.

Look at it this way: the higher cost of organic foods at the check-out is a small price to pay for protecting our loved ones from exposure to synthetic hormones, pesticides, antibiotics and genetically modified ingredients.

I think of organic food as an investment in my family’s health and well being. Just like many components of preventive medicine, organic food and farming pay back generous dividends in the long run.

9 Comments

A lot of thanks for being the mentor on this niche. We enjoyed the article greatly and most of all appreciated how you actually handled the issues I regarded as being controversial. That you are always quite kind towards readers genuinely like me and assist me to in my life. Thank you. Palm Beach Gardens

I strongly agree that organic food is the way to go. Even though the price is higher than the average food prices, the effect organic food has on your body is proven to lengthen your life and keep the nutrients in the right places of your body. Stonyfield farms has been a top brand for organics and I saw that they were mentioned in the movie Food Inc. about how they treat their animals and produce their products that are sold to the mass public. Their products are not injected with false steroids or any other substance to harm the animals health and alter the results of their products.
I like how their blogs and posts from other commenters suggest growing your own vegetables and fruits. You can’t be sure what you are really eating unless you grow it yourself. This to me is so important coming from a successful, strictly organic company. There are many name brand companies that mass produce only to reap the benefits of their sales. Not caring how their products effect consumers bodies. Stonyfield has nothing to hide and it’s a characteristic of a large company that I highly appreciate. They promote through each blog post that organic food can effect you in one way or another. Yes, the price is higher than average, but the effect it will have on all sorts of aspects in your life really add up. When I go grocery shopping, I only buy Stonyfield yogurt and I keep my eye out for other products produced by Stonyfield because I know I can trust this brand. Thank you for all of the insight that you guys put out!

Carol, keep in mind that some pesticides can enter the fruit and can’t be washed off. These are called “systemic” pesticides. Also, the soaps and detergents used in washing can enter the fruit through pores on the skins of produce. Yet these detergents were not meant for human consumption. For this reason, most food safety experts recommend washing all produce under cool running water, no soap needed. And of course, organic is best. Thanks for raising this issue.

I totally agree that organic is the way to go and in the long run a very wise investment in our future.
Now, how can we make organic food affordable to lower income families who have a hard time feeding their families with “industrialized factory” food let alone organic?

Community gardens, Thomas! Gardening fascinates the young, and they pull their parents into it….There’s always a plot to be established–even in an urban area. High school students and college students can help–struggling parents of low-income families are often working their two or three jobs. But even triple-job parents can be found at the garden, admiring a son’s handy work….. Then there’s the canning and ‘putting up’ to stretch the good food into autumn and winter.

Thomas, B.R. Stewart is exactly correct. Community, church, food pantry, and school gardens have all been effective in providing low cost healing foods to people struggling in our sagging economy. I have a backyard garden myself which saves my family hundreds of dollars. My friend Roger Doiron heads up a wonderful organization and website called “Kitchen Gardeners International” which can provide tips on growing and preserving food. I hope this is helpful.